HI-HO Silver, Away!!

No, this isn't a post about the 'Lone Ranger'.

  This is just one of the delapidated cabins in what

was once known as 'Silver City'. It is a deserted

ghost town along the shores of Kluane Lake. If you

drive all the way to the end of this road you will

end up at a rustic B&B that's still operating.

 I do love this photo-I think it would make a great postcard. When I get home I plan to do a 'Yukon'

wall with all the 'treasures' I've collected. This photo just might be part of it.

This is a view of the mountains from Silver City.

Not bad, eh?

My mother in-law can not pass a lake without

putting her feet in it! I think it's become a tradition

for her. Anytime she's near water the shoes and the

socks come off and in she goes.

She talked my SIL into testing the waters with her

this time. Cute picture girls!



Have you ever seen pink grass like this growing

anywhere? I would love to take the seed back home with me, but I've been informed that it would be growing in places I wouldn't want it to grow once it got going. 

And this is white fireweed, which is very hard to

find. I'm not sure if it will seed before I leave, but

if it does I'm going to get a hand full to take home

for my wildflower garden. I have already collected

many seed from along the Alaskan Hwy. We had our first frost last week so it is just a matter of

time now until the leaves begin to turn and possibly this seed!

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Tomorrow I'll be sharing our final trip for the

season that we took to Skagway to visit Elijah

and Laura before we head home in a few weeks.

BTW-Thank you to the sweet ladies that dropped

by just to see if I was still part of the living! As

you can see, it has inspired me to get back on the stick with my posting again.

Until next time,

Kimberly







A Surprise Helicoptor Ride!!

Last week while Tim's sister and his mother were here visiting at the lodge the helicoptor pilot who transfers and drops all the mining exploration crews

into the mountains offered to give us an ariel view of the lake and the lodge.

Doug has been here for nearly two months so DH and I got to know him a bit,

but we were still surprised at his offer. However, it didn't take long for us to

say "yes"!

It had been raining, so the mountains aren't as bright as one would expect

them to be. But it was so thrilling to be riding right next to these lush masses

of rock.

This is the aerial view of  how Kluane Lake appears in front of the lodge.

It's so hard to describe just how vast and uninhabited this land is. One could

truly squat out here and never be discovered! Not that I'm considering that.

I'm just counting the days until I can get back to my beloved home, ladies.

This was just one of the high-lites of  the families visit so if you can hang

in there I'll be back in a day or two with more photos from Silver City and

our trip to Skagway.

Cheers,

Kimberly







You Can't Make This Stuff Up!

  Dear Friends I am going to do something I said I would never do on my blog- gripe! Yes, I've got my gripe on! Today was just one of those days that you wanted to cry about when it was happening, but, 'thank God' I can laugh about it now. Because as I said you just can't make this stuff up!

For the last several weeks I have been getting up at 5 AM to be at work by 6AM to make sure the the eighteen men and three women that are all involved in mining exploration have their

breakfast ready before they begin their long day.

 Well to begin my morning I arrived to a drain that was clogged and so we couldn't run any water. My husband went quickly to work on this and had us back in business within an hour. This really put us off schedule with having our dish supply replenished, but no big deal, I'm just going with the flow ladies.

Next we ran out of wheat toast, which is what everyone wants these days, of course. And you might be surprised to find out how badly this can
 mess up a persons morning.

I think I failed to mention to you that we have been operating with only one half of a 4 slice toaster for days. Well today the toaster gave up entirely so my husband went to the toaster bone yard and tried to find one that would work. The first one blew a fuse and left us in the dark for a short while (commercial toasters are connnected to 220 after all). The next one he tried caught fire and left me screaming for help-I was afraid I'd get electrocuted touching it.  The cook who knows more about these things then me simply popped the toast  up and the fire went out. It was only the toast burning I guess.

Meanwhile, since we cannot serve toast with our breakfast the cook decided we would substitute with a pancake. And I, of course, am the person who gets to paste a smile on her face and march her little fanny out there and tell all the guest this. You should have seen some of their expressions-so funny.  I really can't begin to tell you what a great appreciation I have developed for servers this summer. Let me tell you ladies-it is not an easy job. No matter what kind of  unsavory looking food the cook puts out or the many times that he messses up the orders, it's the server that has to face the customers. Believe me there are times I would've loved to have had a rock to crawl under.

My dear husband finally did finds a 4 slice toaster that had 2 slices working again so we were back in business before the morning was over-yeh!
Oh, did  Imention that we ran out of bacon too?
Well even I am getting turned off by all this negativity and griping so I think it's time to end it all now. I mean my posting, not my life. It was a bad day, but not that bad.

The good news is that I have tomorrow off and I'm

not going anywhere near the lodge or the restaurant.

I'm going to read and sew and eat cookies all day.

Because this is what one does to replenish and rebuild ones constitution, you know.

Praying-I'm doing plenty of that too.

I hope you all have a great weekend.

Take care friends-Kimberly

 

A Trip To Beaver Creek

Beaver Creek is a small community in the Western Yukon  that borders with Alaska. For a drive on our day off we sometimes go to visit a friend who has a restaurant there called,'Buckshot Betty's'. She is always very busy and always short of help. It is just a given here in the Yukon that most service

 businesses are run short-handed!

Carmen, who is the owner, finished most of the inside of this restaurant all by herself. She is a very talented lady I would say.

This bar top is just one of the unique touches she has in her restaurant. It has a heavy acrylics coating on it which makes it easy to wipe and great for display too.

See that foot hanging out of the wood stove? Carmen told me a father of two whining boys told them that is were they place children that are misbehaving. Oh my, I guess it made him start crying! Poor fellow.

Anyway, if you ever pass through Beaver Creek my friends, you have to stop in 'Buckshot Betty's' for a bite to eat. You will not regret it.  She sent me home with a just out of the oven cinnamon roll which I thought would last for two days. Ha! Once I started I just couldn't quit.  Of course I have no willpower when it comes to homemade cinnamon rolls. Does anyone? I'd seriously like to know.

On our way home we spotted a dancing bear. I can't believe I got this shot of him, because there were already 3 cars parked snapping pictures. I was surprised he stuck around so long with all of that attention.







The roadsides are lined with these delicate pink roses and blue flowers right now too.

It was very cloudy and rained most of the day. But it was a day off of work for us and a day away from the lodge, so it was a very good day after all!

The Winner Is.......

The winner of my 1st year anniversary give-away is Betty at Southern Grace . Congratulations to Betty!

She is the winner of a one year subscription to 'Spring-Summer-Fall-Winter' Cottage Magazine.

I hope she'll enjoy it as much as I have!

And thank you to all of the 54 ladies who left their anniversary congrat comments to me this last week. I appreciated hearing from all of you. I'm

naturally looking for ward to sharing and visiting with you this next year.

Blessings,

Kimberly

 

Drawing Tomorrow!!

Tomorrow, Canada Day here, I will be drawing a winner for a

 one year subscription to this magazine.  I have 45 entries, so the

competition isn't too bad for those of you who are in the pot!

I have a blogging ediquette question. Is it bad blogging manners to copy photos from Pininterest sites? I often see ideas and save them in my photos,

but I'm wondering if that's a no-no. I do have a pininterest account set up, but I haven't had the time to work on it yet. Please let me know!

Here is a doily curtain idea I saw that I liked.







Here is another version of the doily lamp.

Isn't this a lovely lampshade? I have several vintage tablecloths that

would make pretty lampshades I think.

And lastly this lovely. Imagine this done in any coordinating color.

 It would look especially nice in a bedroom or a sunporch.

I'll be back tomorrow to announce the winner.

Blessings,



Kimberly

Lovely Places

Every day Tim & I take a 10 minute drive to a

beautiful, quiet spot to sit and have our devotions after our work day. On our drive there we see so many lovely wild flowers blooming now. I can't

name any of them, can you?

The wild roses are the same as the ones growing

in our yard back home. We also had them when we

lived in the U.P. of Michigan. I bet many of you

see these growing wild where you are too.

Notice how the dead is left behind on this one from the former year?

This is the spot were we park each evening. Kind

of pretty, eh?

This is the view on our right side as we drive.

And this is our view on our left as we drive. The

mountains are as varied as the flowers are here.

All beautiful in there own way.

We have been very busy here at the lodge. I'll

try to fill you in on it tomorrow. We've

had a large Native assembly all week  and we also

have a group called, 'Ground Truth' here for a month working.I've already made this long.....post!

So details can wait for another day.

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My 1st year anniversary drawing is still open,

so if you haven't left a comment to let me know

you want me to toss your name in the bowl,

please do so.

The winner will receive a one year subscription

to the above magazine. A magazine is published

for each season.

Until tomorrow friend,

Kimberly





A Year in Review

One hundred and ninety post ago and two hundred and five followers later, I've now reached my first

year anniversary. I remember what a huge thrill it was on that first day to have six ladies actually leave comments on my blog and become my followers!

I am not lying when I tell you that I am so much

smarter today than I was then. I have been all over

the world through my friends. I have a friend in New Brunswick, Maine, California, Texas,  Michigan,Tennesee, the Pacific, England, Scotland, Austrailia, Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Arizona, Utah, NY; Well, you get my drift-everywhere. It's been thrilling to hear about your lifestyles this past year where you live and see all of the beautiful  scenery there as well.

I love that you have welcomed me into your homes to share your decorating ideas, your recipes, your

household and fashion tips. You've taken me along on your vacations. You've even introduced me to your dear family members!

Is it any wonder why I enjoy blogging so much?

And most importantly for me, you've been my

faithful prayer partner at those times when I've

expressed my need for your support.

These last few months have found me busier than I'd like to be and with less time to post or visit everyone that I'd like to. But it is only for a season so I'm trying not to stress about it and just go with the flow. It is what it is.

This is me today after reading all of your sweet

comments- my head is all blown up and inflated!

I honestly wasn't fishing for compliments but

realized after I'd re-read my last post , it sure

sounded like I was. I really just wanted to know

what  interested you the most for future reference.

However, I do except your compliments!!

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All of the photos are mine and were chosen randomly from previous post.

I plan to leave open my anniversary drawing for one week, so please feel free to enter if you haven't already.

The gift is a one year subscription to this magazine.

One is printed for each season of the year. It is full

of  gardening, decorating,  and recipes. So I think you will really enjoy it as much as I have.

Until next time-Kimberly







Happy Anniversary to Me!!

Happy Anniversary to me! I can't believe it, but just one year ago today I jumped head first into this crazy world of blogging. and I'm so...happy I did.

Honestly, it has been nothing but good.

 

I have so much more I'd like to write about it but

since my time is limited tonight, I'll save that for tomorrow.

I am hosting a drawing in celebration of this first year for a subscription for the above magazine.

Please leave a comment and let me know what you enjoy most about my blog-I'm just curious about what made you become a follower in the first place.  If you are not a follower, please join and leave a comment, and I will enter your name also!

I'll be back to chat more tomorrow.

 

 

I noticed on my walk today that we have new blooms along the road.

My husband said yesterday they were lupine. I assured him lupine are

much taller, but upon  close inspection I realized he was right. These

are definitely lupine flowers. I don't know why but the

Yukon lupine doesn't grow as tall as our Ontario plants does. But they

are still pretty, just a mini version.

I found another bird to add to my small collection while in Skagway. I had too

much light on so the photos not the best. I was going to show you my collection thus far, but I haven't transfered my old photos to this new laptop yet. Silly me.

And I just had to have this retro (1954) tissue holder. It's actually older

than me! It reads, Flin Flon, Manitoba. I think it will look cute

in our cabin, don't you?  Oh, and it was only $10.-not bad.

Will you please pray for my folks? My mother fell and they don't feel she'll

ever be able to walk again. This means she has to go to the nursing home.

She has always dreaded this day coming and she so wants to go to be with

the Lord. She is in a lot of pain as well. I can't know the Lords plan, but I

hate to see her suffer. This is so hard on my Dad also.

I'm so thankful that  I  now have a network of blogger friends

that I can turn to for prayer. Thank you all.

 



An Unexpected Detour

We woke up Saturday morning to discover that the mountain pass between

Carcross, Yukon and Skagway, Alaska had been closed overnight due to

washouts from all the recent rains. This meant the only way back to our

work place was to take the ferry from Skagway to Haines, Alaska. But

when we called our employer we discovered  that  there were also three

washouts before the resort.

We felt so thankful that we had decided to drive all the way to Skagway

Thursday night instead of waiting until Friday morning, because the

road was closed after us and we would have missed the wedding!

Haines is a lovely village along the Inside Passage of Alaska.

As you can see the folks who live here love boating for both pleasure, fishing,

and touring.

I was supposed to be back at work this morning, but I guess when life

hands you lemons you have to make lemonade. Right?

Traveling between Haines, Alaska and Haines Junction, Yukon we passed

through the St. Elias mountains. It sure doesn't look like spring here yet.

This drive always makes me feel like I'm traveling between two worlds.

Or, if you've seen the Wizard of Oz, it reminds me of when the movie suddenly

changes from black and white to color. The B&W being the cold mountain

area and the color as you drive back into the lush green valley.

As we neared home

we were happy to see all of the washouts were cleaned away and we are

now safely back at the resort. I'm so thankful to the Lord for a joyous

wedding and his protection in all of our travels there and back.

And 'thank you' to all of you for your well wishes for Elijah & Laura.

You're the best!

Kimberly